It’s been 3 years since The Angry Birds Movie flew into cinemas with a surprisingly entertaining film. Based on the simple but addictive mobile game, it saw Red (Jason Sudeikis), take on a group of pigs lead by Leonard (Bill Hader), after the swines stole all the eggs on Bird Island. Fast forward 3 years and the The Angry Birds Movie 2 takes on that cinematic sequel trope of having the heroes and villains from the first film unite to take on a much larger threat. It’s a safe story, and one that allows for the film to focus more on funny set pieces and visual humour that constantly raises a smile, even if there are few belly laughs to be had.
Red is now hailed as a hero on Bird Island, where his actions are taught in school and he is the face of many different products. The battle with the pigs continues as they constantly bombard each other with a series of pranks. But once the pigs are attacked by a giant block of ice, a new island inhabited by eagles is discovered. The pigs and birds reach a truce and Red sets about putting a team together consisting of his old friends Chuck (Josh Gad), Bomb (Danny McBride), and Mighty Eagle (Peter Dinklage). Joining them is Chuck’s sister, Silver (Rachel Bloom), a university student with a great mind and useful inventions. Together they set out to defeat Zeta (Leslie Jones) a pink eagle who wishes to leave her icy home and take over the other islands.
The first step in the right direction for this sequel is the handling of the characters. Red has become too used to being a hero following his original status as an outcast, and this leads him to trying to tackle problems by himself. The key focus is on teamwork, but also knowing when to step down from a challenge and let somebody else lead. It’s a natural progression and also allows for the majority of characters to have their moment in the sun. The vocal talents all work very well together, and there is a natural flow in the way characters interact. This is essential to pull off the heist movie feel director Thurop Van Orman is trying to create.
The humour is the main aspect of the film and it’s doubtful the constant sight gags, slapstick, puns, and absurdity will fail to amuse a younger audience. There is one hilarious sequence involving a disguise and a urinal, and when jokes fail to stick the landing, at least there is nothing offensively bad. What does become a bit of an assault on the senses is the neverending soundtrack. It becomes distracting and headache inducing as almost every line is followed by a song. Red remembers being lonely, cue All By Myself, two characters look lovingly into each other’s eyes, Lionel Richie’s Hello starts up, a countdown is mentioned and you better believe we’re hearing The Final Countdown. It’s constant, and painfully obvious. Do we really need another montage to Eye of the Tiger?
The film also decides it is a good idea to have a disconnected subplot involving three chicks trying to retrieve three lost eggs. Although cute, and often funnier than the main storyline, these moments seem to be in place of transitions. Much like Scrat’s scenes in the Ice Age films, these seem like individual shorts shoehorned in. The only difference is that Ice Age was 81 minutes with Scrat’s scenes, whereas The Angry Birds Movie 2 is dragged to a needless 96 minutes by these additions.
With simplistic designs, bright colours, and an irritating charm that becomes far too likable, The Angry Birds Movie may very well be an ideal 96 minute distraction for young children. It won’t give them time to think or fidget and the constant visual and auditory stimulation will probably engage parents too.
The Angry Birds Movie is released in cinemas on 2nd August 2019.
